Philadelphia Hoping National Night Out Events Build Trust With Police, Stop Bloodshed
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As gun violence continues to surge across Philadelphia, the city hosted more than 300 National Night Out events Tuesday, hoping it will build trust with police and help stop the bloodshed. The goal of National Night Out is to improve police-community relations.
Families and police came together at a parking lot by the Lowe's and ShopRite at 52nd Street and Parkside Avenue.
This event means a lot to the community in West Philadelphia because of all the civil unrest from last year.
"We want everyone to know this is the Philadelphia we know and love," one man said.
Families came out in droves to the parking lot at 52nd Street and Parkside Avenue in West Philadelphia for National Night Out.
"The best part about National Night Out is it brings people together," a man said.
"We want to make sure that the community can rely on us the same way that we can rely on the community," Philadelphia Polic Capt. Robert McKeever said.
The business corridor here looks much different now than it did last year.
The ShopRite was looted for 15 straight hours back in June 2020, leaving so much destruction behind. The Lowe's was also ransacked.
Now, both have since reopened.
"We definitely don't want to see anybody looting their own neighborhood and having people from the outside loot their own neighborhood," resident Dennis Lee said.
Jeff Brown runs the ShopRite that was looted.
"The year was difficult, but the one optimistic thing, the police are going to be here tonight and they're going to be working hand-in-hand with the community," he said.
Some neighbors point out better police-community relations are needed as the city faces a record homicide rate.
"Hopefully, people can put the guns down because that's what we need," resident Azor Baker said.
"We're trying to get kids to not be in the streets and be all around the bad, the violence and everything. We want them to know, come here, have fun, free food, giveaways," resident Tyler Handford said.
Police hope events like National Night Out build trust within neighborhoods to help stop the violence.
"At the end of the day, we all work and live in the same neighborhoods so we got to make sure we can rely on one another," McKeever said.
While these police night out events seem to be enjoyed by the community, they also come with a message from the police.
"That no snitch rule was made up by criminals," Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal said.
To kick off National Night Out, Bilal gave the crowd a show. But when it was time to get serious, she did.
"If you are not a criminal, you do not have to abide by that no snitch," she said.
"A lot of people stepped forward. They didn't care they knew who did it and they told," Donna Giddings said.
Giddings said she's grateful for the community that spoke up to find the man who executed her mother and son in 2005. Now her focus is to raise a future officer -- her grandson.
As officers interacted with residents, they didn't dare try the Cupid Shuffle.
That was shortly interrupted with a visit from Mayor Jim Kenney.
"There's a lot of history between police and communities of color that's not good," Kenney said.
Year to date, more than 320 people have lost their lives to gun violence. The mayor says many of the folks here could stop shootings in their own backyard.
"These are the people influencing the people who could potentially be committing the crimes. You have to have good examples in order to have a good example to follow," Kenney said.
The sheriff had a message to criminals.
"We coming for you, just note that," Bilal said.
The event was also an opportunity for the community to ask police and city leaders questions.
CBS3's Matt Petrillo and Wakisha Bailey contributed to this report.